Letter to the Editor: Margaret Thatcher added buses, and confusion

Margaret Thatcher was praised as a champion of privatization and small government. Let me give a first-hand example.

I lived in a medium-sized city in Britain before Thatcher. When you arrived at the train station, you could catch a red bus to go anywhere you wanted. There was one municipal company with one ticket window, one schedule and free transfers.

When I visited this city after Thatcher, I learned she had shrunk the government by privatizing the buses. There were now three colors of buses run by three competing private companies. None of the three ticket offices knew the schedules, routes or fares of the other companies, and there were no transfers. When riders protested, Mrs. Thatcher dismissed them as "complainers." Free market heaven!

This incident shows why the "small government-big government" argument is bogus, and illustrates the results of adhering to fixed principles instead of solving problems. What we need is right-sized government.

- Robert F. Ashman, Iowa City

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Letter to the Editor: Margaret Thatcher added buses, and confusion

Margaret Thatcher was praised as a champion of privatization and small government. Let me give a first-hand example.